12/16/00: Betsy's mom reports that Betsy has discovered the joy of playing with toys. This is a dog that spent 12 years in a cage. That speaks volumes about what remarkable dogs Papillons are
01/21/01: Betsy's mom reports that Betsy is doing well and hasn't had anymore seizures. We did find that she has a compromised liver and are monitoring that.
She spends a lot of time resting, but it is peaceful now; without anymore nightmares. She is shown in the bottom two pictures singing for her supper - she can be quite vocal when it is treat or dinner time.
She really enjoys being petted and played with now. The simplest thing, like scratching behind her ears, was foreign to her (and physically impossible) and she enjoys this affection with glee. She has even started to give kisses :)
03/15/01: Betsy's mom reports that due to Betsy's medical condition, we had determined back in November that she couldn't be spayed. As of this writing, she has been in heat for 7 weeks. It has been very hard on her and we are treating this with holistic medication, trying to regulate her cycle.
She is at such a high risk of pyometra, that we are trying to get her regulated and healthy enough for a possible spay. She will not survive an emergency spay nor would she survive pyometra treatment. She's been on the meds now for almost two weeks with no change, but we are remaining optimistic.
If you are thinking you don't need to spay your pet as she will never be bred, please read up on pyometra before making this decision. It is an awful painful condition
04/07/01: Betsy's mom reports that Betsy came through her spay just fine. Her spay went very well considering. She did well under anesthesia and the procedure wasn't complicated. Her uterus was very thick and distended; her ovaries full of cysts.
The hardest thing for Betsy was waking up from anesthesia in a cage. She thrashed about and wailed like she did when I first got her into rescue from the mill. My vet thought it was pain so remedicated her, but then realized it was terror. She used acupuncture on her and she settled down for the afternoon.
Her stitches are out and she is doing fine. She had one seizure last week but has since recovered from that as well. Betsy is a fighter and has proven it once again. She didn't survive 12 years in a puppymill to give up this easily.
October 2001: Betsy's mom reports that Betsy has become very ill. She has lost a lot of weight and started having frequent daily seizures. Life in a puppymill takes its toll on these sweet innocent creatures and sometimes all of the love in the world and the best medicine isn't enough. She began to become disorientated, then she couldn't walk and was up to 3 seizures a day. I literally thought she was dieing before my eyes. I took her in to my vet, fearing the worst and trying to prepare myself for letting her go. I couldn't go thru with that and ran full bloodwork and Xrays instead. Her liver tests came back revealing she is in liver failure. She has some function left though so we are trying to fight it.
She has been started on potassium bromide for her seizures and actigall for her liver (besides her other supplements). We are trying to remain optimistic that she will pull thru once again. She has shown us time and again that she is a fighter. We hope she can beat the odds once again. She is down to one seizure a day and rests most of the time. She is still confused, but seems to be a bit better. I will not let her suffer; not one minute. She did enough of that for 12 years in the mill.
People don't realize how hard it is to love a dog like Betsy. Your heart and soul gets broken on a regular basis, yet you continue on. With each wag of the tail and to see her run thru the grass one more time..it is worth all of the heartache and pain and tears.
Please pray for Betsy and please continue to tell her story. Whatever the outcome, she deserves to have people know how brave she was and how much she was loved.
11/07/01 2001: Betsy's mom reports that Betsy went to the Rainbow Bridge on November 7th.
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